Mainland has 'always stayed out' of island's elections, spokesman says

A spokesman for the Chinese mainland said on Wednesday that the mainland has never interfered in elections in Taiwan and that it never will. He was responding to recent comments by island authorities and the United States.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said, "We have always stayed out of the elections in Taiwan. The DPP authorities are used to slandering the mainland and spreading rumors."

Last week, the island's leader Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party said she believed the mainland had interfered in the nominating process for the Kuomintang party in the race for the island's top office.